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About Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, in December of 1865. As a boy, he took pleasure in
the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Wilkie Collins. He was around eleven years old when he
first started writing. Kipling’s best-known work, The Jungle Book, was published in the late
1890s. Kipling’s life took a tragic turn in the 1930s with the death of his second child. After
developing an ulcer and undergoing surgery, Kipling died less than a week later. His ashes were
interred in Westminster Abbey in Poet’s Corner.

Summary

‘If—‘ is an inspirational poem that provides advice on how one should live one’s life. The poem
takes the reader through various ways in which the reader can rise above adversity that will
almost certainly be thrown one’s way at some point. Throughout the poem, the speaker gives
the reader multiple scenarios, both positive and negative, along with a glimpse into how one
should conduct oneself. The poem has an almost mathematical proof about it with its if-then
scenario. Kipling leaves the “then” until the final two lines, revealing to the reader that if he or
she is able to do all that was just mentioned, he or she will not only have the world at his or her
fingertips, but he or she will also be a “Man.”

Theme

In ‘If—,’ Kipling engages with themes of masculinity and success/defeat. The first of these is
incredibly central to the poem. From the speaker’s point of view, there are very specific things
the young listener has to do to become a man. The speaker celebrates attributes that are
traditionally masculine, like strength, while also, in a contemporary setting, raising questions in
regard to what role women have to play in society. The “inspirational” part of this poem comes
from the speaker’s motivational message for the young listener. He helps this young man try to
understand what it takes to be successful in life and how to handle defeat when it occurs,
which, the speaker says, it certainly will.